Brothers
by LuxaLucifer
Summary: Should we really be doing this?" "I wonder how many Death Eaters asked the same question," replied Fabian quietly. "I wonder how many of them joined anyway." "You don't have to wonder," said Gideon. "Just count up the dead bodies."


If any of you read Some Futile Hope, sorry for the long delay, but NaNoWriMo is eating my soul...anyway, I had to write about as et of twins for the QLFC, and I picked Fabian and Gideon. My prompts were sweet as honey, nonsense, and trickery. :)

* * *

When they were little, Fabian and Gideon would only dance with each other. Only they knew which steps the other liked, the best way to hold hands, the best tempo for every song. When they were four or five, everyone thought it was so precious. Sweet as honey, people would tell their parents. Your little boys are as sweet as honey.

When they turned eight, their mother began to separate them, telling them that what they were doing could be looked at the wrong way.

They did everything else together, but not dancing.

* * *

"I love you two, but this needs to stop."

Their mother was standing firm, her hands on her hips are she glared down at them.

They stared innocently back at her, as though Fabian didn't have green goo trailing down his hands and Gideon didn't have feathers in his hair.

"This nonsense needs to end!" blustered their mother, her indignation growing with every second. "This...this trickery! You two are going to Hogwarts next year, you know. You can't be this immature forever. I don't care why you did it, but it needs to stop."

They nodded contritely and dutifully cleaned the goo out of their flaming red hair, together reveling, not in the prank itself, but the look of glee on Molly's face when they hit the boys bullying her with facefuls of green, smelly goo.

* * *

At first, the twins didn't like Hogwarts. They didn't tell anyone but each other, because no one didn't like Hogwarts, not even the Slytherins, even if they pretended they didn't.

At Hogwarts people made fun of them for being the smallest in the class, and for looking exactly alike, and for talking in unison, even though they hardly ever did that anymore. They closed their eyes to the magic of the building, the moving staircases and enthralling library, huge feasts and wide-open grounds. Instead they only let themselves see the dark corridors and twisted gargoyles, the menace of the Forbidden Forest.

That all changed when they met Benjy Fenwick.

He was a Hufflepuff, and he smiled a lot. At first, that was all they knew. They thought it was all they needed to know.

"Hey," said Benjy one day. "Fabian, you dropped your quill."

Fabian was halfway to picking it up before he froze, looking up at Benjy from his stock-still position.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"How did I know you dropped your quill?" asked Benjy, tilting his head in confusion. "I saw you."

"No," said Gideon. "Not that. How did you know he was Fabian?"

"Why wouldn't I?" asked Benjy, now just as surprised as them. "You're easy to tell apart. I mean, you are different people."

Fabian grabbed his quill and stuffed it in his bag, straightening to flash Benjy a quick smile.

From that moment on, Benjy Fenwick was their best friend.

* * *

"Where's Fabian?"

Gideon looked up from his Astronomy book, which was piled on top of four other textbooks haphazardly lying around. He closed it with a sigh and looked up at Benjy, who was tapping his foot impatiently. Benjy was growing his hair out, and it was at that length where it was long enough to hang in your eyes but too long to brush behind your ears.

"What?" asked Gideon.

"Where's Fabian?"

"Look, Ben, but I've got these things called O.W.L.s to study for. You might have heard of them? That is, if you have time to. I know about all that partying you Hufflepuffs do."

"Your jokes really suck when Fabian's not here," replied Benjy, rolling his eyes, which were barely visible past his bangs. "Speaking of which, where is he?"

"He's..."

He trailed off, realizing that he didn't know where Fabian was. He stared at Benjy, who stared back. Well, at least that's what Gideon thought he was doing. It was hard to tell.

"I don't know where he is," he heard himself say.

"Oh," said Benjy.

Benjy stood there for a few seconds longer before waving goodbye, off to look for Fabian. Gideon had forgotten to ask why.

He opened his textbook again, trying to shake the feeling of dread he had. He'd never, not in all his life, not known where his brother was.

* * *

When Fabian had gone back to his dorm room to find his Spellotape, he hadn't expected to find his brother there. Nor did he expect to find his brother naked and  
writhing. And he certainly didn't expect it to be under the Captain of the Quidditch team, Caradoc Dearborn.

They froze like deer in wandlight when Fabian entered the room. He would admit to having a slight moment of panic, but he quickly composed himself and waved at them.

"Sorry to interrupt you, boys," he said cheerily. "I've just got to find some tape."

"F-Fabian," panted Gideon, catching his breath. "Aren't you...surprised?"

"A little," said Fabian, rummaging through his trunk. "No offense to you Caradoc, but I think you can do better, brother."

"Hey," said Caradoc.

"I said no offense," replied Fabian, shrugging.

He retrieved his tape triumphantly and stood up to leave.

"By the way," said Gideon. "I'm gay."

"I'm not," said Fabian, pulling the curtain on the four-poster on his way out. "Have fun!"

It was only when he had left the room and reached the common room that his heart stopped racing. All this time, and he hadn't known? He clutched at the Spellotape and began to laugh. They weren't so alike after all.

* * *

"Should we really be doing this?"

"I wonder how many Death Eaters asked the same question," replied Fabian quietly. "I wonder how many of them joined anyway."

"You don't have to wonder," said Gideon. "Just count up the dead bodies."

Dumbledore called for the meeting to start, and they took their seats. Gideon sat next to Caradoc and they held hands under the table, tighter than was comfortable because they needed it. Fabian sat next to Remus Lupin because none of his friends were there and no one else would sit next to the werewolf who already looked five years older than he was, even though the war had barely begun.

"We live together," said Gideon softly. "We die together."

Fabian nodded and gripped the wooden table as Dumbledore began.

"Friends, old and new," he said. "Former students, all of you, we gather here today to rise against the threat of Voldemort..."

It occurred to him that Dumbledore's words sounded more like a pastor's marriage speech than anything.

* * *

"Benjy's dead."

There were no words after this, no condolences, no apologies. James delivered the news and left them to their grief. Later they found out how they'd tortured him, how he'd never spilled a single secret, how they'd only found a few fingers, a piece of his leg, and a chunk of his ponytail.

Gideon pulled Fabian in for an embrace. It didn't help, but Fabian let him. They sat in silence for hours.

* * *

They were surrounded, back to back, spells flying so close he could feel them ruffle his hair. Sweat trailed down his forehead, his chin, stained his shirt as it clung to his skin. His wand arm was tired. It had been over an hour.

"They're too good," he heard a Death Eater gasp.

It wasn't true. There were six of them and only one set of twins. Numbers would overtake their skill sooner or later.

"How long has it been since we danced together, brother?" panted Gideon.

"I don't know, brother," replied Fabian, dodging yet another Killing Curse.

"Years and years," said Gideon.

"Yes," said Fabian. "Look at us now. Even so out of practice, we've still got it."

"We do, don't we?"

A spell hit Gideon's arm, and with an explosion of pain like none he had felt before, it was severed at the elbow. He snarled his pain, sweat dripping into his eyes. The only thing that kept him on two feet was the press of his brother's back against his.

"Live together," said Fabian.

"Die together," finished Gideon.

* * *

Reviews are love!


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